I hope if you saw me on the street you wouldn’t think “she has a problem with hair loss.”

ME AND MY HAIR

For many people, thick full hair equates to beauty and youth. The women in my family have always had thick, strong, full, and silky hair. Strangers regularly compliment my hair. Well into her 80’s, my Grandmother’s hair was silky, dark and thick – you would never have guessed her age from her hairline, practically no thinning, sparseness, or loss of density. I always considered my hair one of the best, if not my best, feature. I always take good care of my hair with quality brushes, shampoos, treatments and avoided damaging treatments. No styles that pull on my hair, and no hot irons or harsh chemicals on my scalp.

So you can imagine my surprise when otherwise healthy and looks conscious me started to lose my thick, full hair – I had hair thinning in spots that became hard to conceal.

MY HAIR THINNING STORY

We don’t hear much about women losing their hair: but it is common, as many as 40-50% of women experience hair thinning (also known as FPHL or Female Pattern Hair Loss). And many of these are not older women who are experiencing hair loss as a normal part of aging: it happens to younger, active women even in their thirties, like me. Some women lose for known medical reasons, others due to stress, medications, pregnancy or even rapid weight loss.

The reason for my hair loss is a common stressor that at some point affects almost all of us: the death of a loved one. In my case, my hair loss happened after the sudden illness and death of my beloved father. After nearly two months of staying at the hospital with him nearly around the clock, subsisting on coffee, barely eating or sleeping through the ups and downs and all the stress, I rapidly lost weight from my poor diet, and my hair became noticeably thin in spots.

I went to the doctor. The bloodwork and tests showed nothing hormonally or otherwise wrong with me that would cause hair loss at my age and my health – but he did tell me about the impact of all that stress, the physical exhaustion, and the grief. The same stress that caused the loss of sleep and poor nutrition that resulted in the rapid weight loss caused my hair to become thinner in a way that became hard to conceal by just by altering my hairstyle to conceal the thinning sections. I thought that it would improve over time, like how I got my back to my normal, healthy weight. But the hair loss hasn’t markedly improved over time. I began to investigate my options.

WHAT TO DO ABOUT MY HAIR LOSS?

I knew what I didn’t want: I was not interested in any kind of hair extension or makeup to conceal the scalp skin; I wanted to deal with the problem, not cover it. I didn’t want to do anything risky with medications or treatments. I wanted a treatment that was safe for women, preferably natural because I didn’t want to involve hormones or chemicals. I wanted it to work quickly. And I wanted to be able to read the research and science behind the solution.

I knew I did not want side effects like scalp redness or irritation, and I didn’t want it to cause inflammation that affected healthy hair follicles. If a product had natural ingredients, it would be fantastic.

So as you might guess I was thrilled when I heard about the KerMax Hairloss System.

HOW KerMax WORKS:

Keramax is four products system: a shampoo, a conditioner to replace your current shampoo/conditioner regiment, plus a nighttime hair thickening serum and a daytime foam treatment. It is safe to use, and I haven’t had any bad reactions in the few days I’ve been using it so far. The foam and serum absorb nicely and is undetectable when dry. No greasy treatment area!

In the scientific study, participants used this regiment for 12 weeks, and all the participants experienced less hair loss. Pretty nice to be able to stop hair loss in its tracks!

I’m really excited to try out the Kermax line and see if I can get my healthy hair back to its’ former glory! I’ll be updating you on the result in 12 weeks, so stay tuned!

Here’s a video of me applying the foam for the first time:

[embedyt] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eHcHjp630cY[/embedyt]

WHERE TO GET KERMAX:

In Canada: Available at all Shopper Drug Mart Locations and in the United States at all CVS locations and CVS online.

Learn more about KerMax on their website, Facebook, Twitter, and Youtube!

GIVEAWAY:

We’ve teamed up with KerMax to give away the four products (a $150 value) to a Style Chicks reader! There are two ways to enter:

1) Instagram: Follow Style Chicks on Instagram (if you aren’t following us already, find us at https://www.instagram.com/stylechicksdotcom/) and like the giveaway post. If you can’t find it immediately, search under the hashtag #StyleChicksKerMaxGiveaway.

2) If you aren’t on Instagram, you can send us an email at [email protected].

The Giveaway will run from today, February 19th at 7 PM to Friday, February 26th at 7 PM EST. We won’t publish your name, and will only pass your information onto the company to send you your KerMax System!

This post was written by me. While I was compensated for my time and effort, all opinions remain 100% mine.